


Normal is Overrated

by littlejeanniebean



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Alternate Universe - Normal Life, F/M, Gen, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23832298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlejeanniebean/pseuds/littlejeanniebean
Summary: Fact: Peter Parker was a nervous wreck. May, ever the optimist, had patted his cheeks, kicked him out of the car, and told him to have a good day. Peter had never had a good first day of school. He was smart but had a severe attention deficit, so even his teachers never liked him. His one best friend throughout junior high, Ned Leeds, had moved to New Jersey, so he would probably end up eating alone in some empty classroom just to be safe. And he’d met the principal at orientation last Friday. The man had an eye patch and a perpetual frown, used to head up the corrections department for youth offenders. So yeah, high school was going to suck big time.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Shuri
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	1. Marvel High

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what to do with this, but if you want to see more, let me know and I'm sure we can come up with something ;)

Fact: Peter Parker was a nervous wreck. May, ever the optimist, had patted his cheeks, kicked him out of the car, and told him to have a good day. Peter had never had a good first day of school. He was smart but had a severe attention deficit, so even his teachers never liked him. His one best friend throughout junior high, Ned Leeds, had moved to New Jersey, so he would probably end up eating alone in some empty classroom just to be safe. And he’d met the principal at orientation last Friday. The man had an eye patch and a perpetual frown, used to head up the corrections department for youth offenders. So yeah, high school was going to suck big time.

“Move it, dickwad,” one of the larger boys shoved past him at the door to his homeroom.

Peter strategically chose a seat in the ambiguous, unnoticeable middle. 

A short, bright-eyed girl marched up to him, “You’re in my seat.”

“Sorry! Sorry!” he tried to pick up his backpack but the strap was caught on the leg of his chair, so he just kind of ended up spilling himself over the floor. 

“Crap, I was just messing with you, kid,” she helped him up, “You good?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” he just sort of stood there awkwardly, not meeting her eyes. 

“Dude, you gotta stop apologizing. _I’m_ sorry, okay?” she tried to get him to look at her, “I’m Shuri. I have a messed up sense of humour that scares away any friends I might’ve ended up having. Is it cool if I sit next to you?”

“Yeah, sure,” he nodded, “I’m Perker Pat - Parker Pete - Peter Parker.”

“Cool.”

“Dude, you are _sad_ ,” the boy who shoved him coming into the room twirled an expensive-looking pen, sparing him the most derisive of sideways glances.

Peter was saved from actually having to come up with a response when their teacher walked in two-minutes after the bell and put his feet up on his desk, “Okay, kiddies. My name is Mr. Stark, you may call me Mr. Stark. I am your homeroom teacher unless you’re in the wrong room. I also teach AP Math and Computer Science. If you have questions at this point, I honestly wonder how you got this far in life, but I’m obligated to ask.”

The room was silent. 

“Great, do whatever until the bell rings, I guess.”

The class emptied out. 

Peter hung back, “M-Mr. Stark?”

“Yes, Proton.”

“I-it’s Peter, actually.”

“I was talking about your t-shirt.”

“I - Oh, yeah,” he looked down at the “I’m positive” joke print, “um… I just wanted to let you know that I have ADHD, mostly the AD part a-and I don’t expect any special treatment or anything and I’ll work really hard, but I also wanted to join Mathletes and I wasn’t allowed in junior high because I’d always get sidetracked at the meets but I think I can do better now if you’ll give me the chance… butifnotthat’sokay.”

Mr. Stark appraised him, “First meeting is in this room at three.”

“Thank you, sir!” he smiled, but when his teacher didn’t smile back, he fixed his face and walked to his next period.

“I’m Mr. Banner, and there are three things you need to remember if you want to succeed in biochemistry. One: If you’re unsure but proceed without asking for clarification first, I will be angry. Two: If you show up to the lab without completing the prior work assigned, I will be angry. Three: If you do not share work between your lab partners equally, I will be angry. Don’t make me angry.”

“Wanna be lab partners?” Shuri asked.

“Sure,” Peter squeaked and cleared his throat. 

“You’re not going to break a test tube on me, are you?”

He shook his head quickly. 

“You’re a lot of work, Peter Parker, but it’s kind of adorable.”

“Um… thanks?”

“You’re welcome. Now hand me that pipette and fire up the spectrophotometer.”

The last period before lunch was P.E.

“I’m Coach Barton, that’s all you need to know. Let’s do a few warm up laps around the circuit.”

Peter ran hard and was close to fainting as he crossed the line in the middle of the pack.

“Woah, kid, you need to go to the nurse’s?” Coach singled him out.

He tried to say ‘no’ but no sound would come out, so he just shook his head, gasping. He could hear the other boys snickering beyond the pounding of his blood in his brain.

“I think you need to go to the nurse’s,” Coach beckoned to the boy who’d crossed the line first, “Flash, take him to the clinic, would ya?”

“Yes, sir,” the bully from his homeroom smirked at him.

As soon as they were out of the gym, he jostled and picked at the smaller boy only to exhibit the epitome of sympathy in front of Nurse Man-Ti. 

“Here, drink some electrolytes,” she told him and he finished the small bottle in under a minute. 

As soon as Flash was gone, Peter let himself just cry. He wished his aunt would just homeschool him, but it’s been hard since his uncle died and in the face of that, Peter felt bad for feeling bad about his little problems and that made him cry some more.

“Hey,” the nurse sat beside him quietly, “Peter, right?”

He nodded, “I’m sorry.”

“What for? Better out than in, that’s what I always say.”

Peter sniffed.

“Do you want to talk about it? Or make an appointment with Counsellor Barnes?” 

“No, no, I’m fine. I just needed, uh… electrolytes,” he leaves quickly after that.

Peter goes to his locker for his bag and clothes, red eyes trained on the floor so that hopefully nobody notices. He doesn’t notice Shuri arguing with Flash, gesturing forcefully back at his locker. Flash sees him put in his combination and open the door, a cheshire grin spreading across his face. 

“Peter!” Shuri tries to warn him, “Don’t -”

But it’s too late and he’s covered in silly string, a few old socks found decomposing in the gym lockers, and the contents of a bathroom trash can. 

“I’m gonna go change,” he whispers to no one in particular.

“I’ll save you a place at lunch?” Shuri called after him.

Peter stops in his tracks to shoot her a grateful smile, “Thank you.”

Mr. Thor Odinson was a very loud history teacher, but it worked well for keeping Peter’s attention throughout the class, so he was able to answer all the review questions. 

“Teacher’s pet,” Flash scoffed at the sound of the bell.

“Dumbass,” Shuri fake-coughed and pulled Peter to the auditorium.

“I’m Mr. Loki Odinson, you may call me Mr. Loki to distinguish between myself and my hard-of-hearing brother, Thor,” said their quieter drama teacher, “Thompson, if you kick Parker’s chair one more time, I will send you to Fury’s office with no note, no explanation. And he has a very specific way of dealing with those cases.”

Flash stopped and sat straighter. 

“Good, Parker, you seem suitably nervous. Come up here and help me demonstrate a quick improvisation exercise.”

Peter tripped on his way down the aisle to the stage, but kept going. 

“Now, you’re a superhero and I’m a supervillain. You’re trying to turn me over to the good side, but we can only converse alphabetically. So I must start with the letter ‘A’, you must start with the letter ‘B’ and so forth. Are you ready?”

“No.”

“Ah, ah, first rule of improv: the answer is always, ‘Yes, and…’ Let’s go, Parker. You’re brave. You’re bold. You’re a _hero_.”

“Alright, Mr. Villain, you have two choices,” Peter surprised himself at how his voice carried. It must be the way the auditorium was built, “perish, or join our fight.”

“Blech, I choose to perish,” Mr. Loki dropped to his knees, “C’mon Hero, end me if you have the guts at all.”

“Come on, you know you never wanted to watch the city burn to begin with. The hive possessed you, used you. Now, you have the chance to redeem yourself.”

“Don’t presume to know me because you can’t possibly. You don’t know what I’ve been through. What I’ve _lost_!”

“Everything,” Peter said quietly, “Everyone you ever cared for. I _do_ know… because so have I. We’re not so different.”

“Fighting the hive is a losing proposition. You have nothing that could work against them!”

“Gas. Even a million eyes are no good in a fog.”

“Huh… I never thought of that. I’ll join your fight, Hero if you’ll let me,” Mr. Loki proffered his “bound” wrists.

“I knew there was some good left in you, Mr. Villain,” Peter “unlocked” the “restraints.”

Mr. Loki mimed holding a knife to Peter’s neck, “Just not that much, I’m afraid. Hive Mother! I’ve got him! I’ve got the hero! Now release my family from the void as you promised!”

Peter wracked his brain from the next letter. The plot twist didn’t help him think either. “... Krap with a ‘k’?” 

Mr. Loki broke character and laughed before clapping and shaking his student’s hand, “That was the most interesting improv demonstration I’ve had in awhile, Parker. You’re a natural. Now everyone pair off and try to top _that_ performance if you can!”

English with Mr. Rogers was the last period of the day. He didn’t look up from his book until everyone was seated, silent, and had their eyes up front. It took a crazy long time and a good deal of organization and yelling on Shuri’s part. 

“Sorry, guys, I was reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down!” he joked.

Peter was the only one who laughed.

After giving a bit of a lecture on respect for their instructors, valuing their education, and how much they were going to love English this year, he let them go early. 

“Okay, I’m calling you three Alvin, Simon, and Theodore from now on,” Mr. Stark addressed his small Mathlete gathering, “Our new mascot is a chipmunk, I don’t care that all our other teams are Rocket Raccoons.” 

“Which one of us is Alvin?” Shuri asked.

“Since you asked, you are. Fancy-Pen is Simon and Proton is Theodore. Now, we have a competition to prepare for in… ages from now, so… drill, I guess? I don’t know. Who wants to do Euclidean algorithms?” 

Three hands went up. 

“Nice,” he brought out his expensive Japanese chalk, a gift from his wife, the well-known Fortune 500 CEO, Pepper Potts.


	2. The Daily Beagle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lovely anon sent me a request on Tumblr, so feast on some Homecoming Normal AU!

"Why are you always like this?" a dry, monotonous voice interrupted Peter's thoughts.

"Huh?" he turned to face a frowning girl with just a single curly strand of hair escaping her messy ponytail.

"Why do you keep coming to Liz's parties when you never have a good time?" she popped a peanut into her mouth, her brown eyes squinting at him in Liz Toomes' the dimly lit living room.

Peter looked from her scuffed white sneakers to her frilly pink dress thrown carelessly over a black t-shirt and ripped jeans. It was quite the outfit. "Do you have a good time at her parties?"

"I wouldn't call it 'good,' no," she answered.

"Then what are _you_ doing here?"

"I smell a story."

That was all she said and Peter went back to watching Shuri and Liz flirt over vegan, gluten-free pizza. 

The strange girl was right, he thought, _Why do I bother?_

He could pretend he was being a good wingman - a good _friend_ \- but the fact of the matter was that as soon as Shuri realized she could recite Liz's entire wardrobe from memory, she made sure her not-so-little crush was well on its way to becoming a solid relationship. 

So Peter told Shuri he was leaving when Flash finally picked the lock on the liquor cabinet. As an excuse, he said he had an appointment with Ned to build a Death Star in Minecraft, which didn't sound like a bad idea at all. 

The boy didn't make it three steps from the front door before a quiet squeak came from above the porch, followed by a thud and a scrape. 

"Who's there?" he looked up.

"Oh, hi," the girl with the frilly pink dress over her t-shirt and jeans waved, cell phone in hand, "I'm Michelle, but my friends would've been allowed to call me MJ."

Peter had a million questions in his mind and for some reason, the first to be spoken was, "'Would've been?'"

"Yeah," she climbed down the trellis with a little grunt, "You know, if I actually had any."

"Oh…"

MJ picked her bike up off the lawn. At least, Peter assumed it was her bike. 

"Hey, you're not, like, a thief or anything, right?"

"No. I'm investigating a thief," she pointed towards the house.

"The Toomes?"

"Adrian Toomes. There are some discrepancies in his construction company's inventory. Daily Beagle got an anonymous tip and apparently, unlike a lot of other crap we get, it checks out."

"Daily Bugle?" 

"Ew, no, they're a shame to the journalism community. It's _Beagle_. Like the dog."

"Because you guys sniff out the truth?"

"Or maybe I'm just rabid for blueberries."

Peter blinked, "Was... that a Fantastic Mr. Fox reference?"

"My entire aesthetic is a Wes Andersen film, so yes."

"So… you're working all _alone_?"

"Why? Do we have a problem, Jimmy Neutron?" MJ advanced on him so they were toe to toe and she was a good bit taller than he was. 

"W-what?"

She pointed at his "Gotta Blast" t-shirt.

"Oh, yeah, I mean, no. No, we don't have a problem. But you could… use a lookout, maybe? Someone to make sure you don't… I don't know, fall off a roof?"

"Eh," she shrugged, rubbing her elbow, "I'm good."

He saw the blood dripping down the length of her arm and proceeded to lecture her on the precise methods of infection on a cellular level until she gave in and let him lead her back into the house for a first aid kit.

"I'm still going after him," said MJ.

"I never suggested you stop," replied Peter, "Liz doesn't have anything to do with it, though, right?"

"No, I've eliminated her and your friend who's sweet on her as suspects."

"Er, thanks, I guess?" he finished bandaging her up. 

She hopped off the bathroom counter, all lanky limbs and unbothered shuffling, "What's your name, kid?"

"We're literally the same age, probably."

"I never said I _wasn't_ a kid."

Oh, she was off-beat, alright. But there was something awfully easy about talking to her. So he said, "I'm Peter."

"I could use a good lookout, Peter."

"As long as we're not stealing anything."

MJ made no such assurances.

"Trespassing?"

The girl crossed her spindly arms.

"Anything I _wouldn't_ want my aunt to know about?"

"Oh, please, like she's never gotten up to anything in her day!" MJ wrenched the door open and the bubblegum pop music from the party filled their ears once more.

"She -" actually, May probably _had_ gotten up to _everything_ in her day, "Whatever, let's go before I change my mind."

"Excellent. You're riding on the handle bars."

And so it happened that Peter stood still as a statue outside a trailer office in midtown, plain black hoodie shadowing his pale face. 

"Hey, Neutron, you wouldn't happen to go to the fancy STEM high school up the block, would you?" asked MJ from inside said trailer.

"Listen, I would _love_ to get to know you better, but maybe now isn't the time _nor_ the place?"

"It's a simple yes or no question," she hummed.

Peter could hear more file cabinets opening and closing. They'd be there a while. "I used to."

"What happened?"

_My uncle died._ "I have ADHD."

"Yeah, but what _happened_?"

The boy shrugged. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" MJ cast the beam of her phone flashlight about the room.

"Yeah. I couldn't do anything." _I was there with him and I couldn't stop it._

"The pace wasn't good?"

"Do _you_ go there?"

"Used to," she replied, "Now I'm homeschooled."

"Do you like it?" his question was met with silence, "MJ?" still no answer, "MJ!" he hissed peeking into the trailer.

"He's stealing material from his supplier, Stane Industries, but he puts it towards like… fifteen different pro bono projects. Someone's roof here, another's basement, he re-built a homeless shelter after a fire…"

"Robin Hood, the carpenter, huh?"

"Whoever sent me the tip is onto him too. Most likely, it's someone from Stane Industries," MJ ripped a piece of paper from a notebook, "I'm going to leave him a warning to lay low for a bit or at least cover his tracks better…"

Peter looked out the window of the trailer. The night guard just completed another careless pass. He turned back to his partner in crime. "Is that supposed to be a dog?"

"It's a beagle," she told him pointedly.

"You're a great artist," he deadpanned.

"Like you could do better under pressure."

"I draw chemical models and anatomically correct comics all day, this is nothing," Peter took the ballpoint pen and drew a very convincing beagle, "Now, let's get out of here. You're taking the handle bars this time."

"Suit yourself."

He couldn't see over her head and struggled to ride in a straight line.

"Okay back there?"

Peter sighed in defeat, "I'll take the handle bars."

They switched places and made it back to Queens just shy of midnight.

"Peter, was that a _girl_ , I saw?" in jest, May pointed out of the largest window in their apartment, from which she had the perfect view of the street.

" _May_ ," he whined.

"What?" she smiled innocently before practically skipping towards him, where he was still shucking off his sneakers at the door, "Tell me, tell me, spare no details!"

"Her name is MJ and she's weird but cool. She can't draw and pedals a bike like a madwoman."

May liked her already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments or on Tumblr @littlejeanniebean :)


	3. Tuscany, Italy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bank robbery, a white collar criminal, ride or die friendship and young love...

“Are you sure, man?” Ned Leeds looked between the selection of limited edition action figures and his long-time friend, Peter Parker. 

The boy from Queens set his jaw and nodded. He’d come all the way to New Jersey on a mission and he was not going to return until it had been completed or until curfew, whichever came first obviously. 

“Alright,” Ned brought out the checks he’d gotten, being the prodigious coding whiz he was, there were many people who’d hired him as a freelancer in the first month of the summer alone. “That comes out to two-hundred and seventy-three dollars and change. We can cash them down the street. Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Huh?” Peter was busy stuffing the checks into his backpack. 

“You’re giving away Superman  _ and _ Batman, dude, there’s gotta be a girl,” he locked the apartment door behind them. 

“I mean, yeah, but not like  _ that _ . It’s her birthday and she’s hunting this guy wanted for fraud and tax evader -”

“Wait, you lost me at ‘hunting.’”

“He’s a bad guy and he’s skipped to Italy using several aliases, but conveniently, our class has a trip scheduled for August -”

“Sounds like a girl like  _ that _ to me.”

“It isn’t,” Peter asserted, walking into the bank, “We just need the money to get around without our tour group so we can -”

“ _ Get down on the ground _ ! _ Now _ !”

“Oh, shit!” Ned ducked behind the customer service desk and pulled his friend down with him. 

“ _ Hands out, eyes shut, face down _ !  _ Not a sound _ !”

Peter threw his hands outward and screwed his eyes shut. He could hear Ned hyperventilating beside him and was comforted by the sound. It’s just like hide and seek. They’re in the playground. Flash and his posse, younger but still horribly mean, chased them until they couldn’t find them anymore and then the boys just had to stay put until their assailants got bored and left. It was a while before Peter learned that was  _ not _ how one played hide and seek, but he still called it that in his head. Uncle Ben had been the one to tell him. When he died, all of Peter’s then newfound bravery seemed to go with him. 

The voice that had been yelling now snarled into his ear, “What do you have in the backpack,  _ kid _ ?”

The boy flinched so hard, he hit the robber’s chin with the back of his head, “Sorry! S-sorry! I-I-I d-didn’t mean -”

_ Bang _ !  _ Bang _ !  _ Bang _ !

“Peter!” Ned yelled, pulling his friend backwards as the masked robber fell forward, his gun still slightly raised at the boy whom he’d thought was trying to be a hero. 

The robber’s partner was being taken into custody as the boys were approached by a tall, curly haired girl in ripped jeans and a custom t-shirt that read in blood-like print, ‘but screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail.’

“...  _ MJ _ ?” Peter gaped, "Birth happy day! Day birth happy! I mean, happy birthday!"

“Age is just a number. And close your mouth, Neutron, you’ll catch flies,” she spoke without malice and maybe even a tinge of concern, “You okay?”

The boy looked down, patted himself and mumbled, “No new holes.”

“I’m Ned,” said the chubby boy, “You must be the girl.”

“ _ The girl _ ?” for an explanation, MJ looked to Peter, who muttered, “Don’t mind him,” in a very pointed way.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” he asked, seeming to find his voice although he was still very pale and his fingers were twitching slightly. 

“Bank robberies always go up in the summer, only I was able to pick out a very specific pattern. This chain and all the others robbed within the week is owned by Beck Investments.”

“He cheated a lot of people out of their life’s savings. Makes sense,” Peter nodded, “That's the bad guy I was telling you about, Ned.”

“Oh, wow, you weren’t making that shit up, were you?” his friend gasped, “You can have your action figures back, I want to help you take this guy down! My nana had gramps’ life insurance invested in this guy’s firm!”

“You have action figures?” MJ lifted her eyebrows. She couldn’t manage to raise just one at a time and neither could Peter. They had a bonding moment about it and Shuri called them  _ that _ old married couple. 

“Not anymore,” Peter said firmly. Only after she left with a knowing look on her face, he whispered to Ned, “I was bluffing. Yes, I would like them back.”

“Duh, bro, I got you.”

They did their secret handshake and wouldn’t stop midway, so the teller had to call “Next!” twice. 

In two weeks, a very harried Mr. Harrington was shunting his students through airport security. 

“Ned?” Peter embraced his friend, “What are you doing here?” 

“Can’t a bestbro come to see his bestbro off?”

“Babe!” a short blonde from Peter’s class took a running leap into Ned’s arms.

Peter crossed his arms and pretended to pout, but he couldn’t really manage it, because MJ had been complaining to him about Betty and her new boyfriend whom she’d been obsessed with for weeks. Now that he knew it was Ned, he was very proud of his bestbro. 

“Hey, babe! I’m going to miss you so much!” Ned cooed, mouthing a ‘Sorry!’ to Peter, who waved it off, genially. 

“Wanna bet they’ll break it off before fall?” MJ came up beside him.

“ _ What _ ?  _ No _ !” Peter looked at her in shock. 

“Hey, MJ,” a tall boy with smoothly quaffed dark hair and kind dark eyes smiled at her, “I’ll save you a seat in the waiting lounge. Hey, Peter.”

“Hey, Brad,” he replied.

“Thanks, Brad,” said MJ.

“You’re just recruiting left and right, aren’t you?”

“Brad’s been a great help filtering out the nutcases and pulling all nighters. Also, he's on the basketball team -”

“Wait, how is that relevant?”

“He’s tall.”

“So?”

“If he wants to go snooping around some place, he doesn’t need a stool as often as you do. It’s an asset.”

“Wait, you’ve taken  _ him _ snooping?”

“I’m thinking of renaming  _ The Beagle _ . What do you think of  _ Snoopy _ ?”

“I don’t -”

“No, you’re right, copyright issues -”

“That’s not -” Peter cut himself off. 

“Not... what?” MJ peered at him curiously.

“Nothing,” he couldn’t understand why his gut felt like it had been punched. 

Speaking of which, “Sup, dickwad!” Flash ran up and punched him in the gut, before running off, Shuri hot on his heels with a loud battlecry that made everyone in the airport stare. 

“Shuri! He’s not worth it!” Peter called after her, still clutching his abdomen.

“No, but you are!” his friend saluted him before catching up to Flash and kicking him in the shins. 

MJ looked between Peter and Shuri, “Are she and Liz still… a thing?” she asked out of the blue, which was her preferred mode of inquiry. After MJ left Adrian Toomes a warning that someone was closing in on his Robin Hood operation, he decided to move states for the safety of his family. 

“Huh? What? Uh, yeah, and before you ask, I’m not placing bets on when they break it off either. They handle long-distance really well.”

“Sorry. That was a bad joke earlier. I’ve been spending too much time around Shuri.”

“Shuri,” he said at the same time, chuckling, remembering exactly how he'd come to be friends with the lively girl, who was exactly the opposite of MJ's evergreen chill. 

“Yeah…”

“So…”

“I’d… better… uh…”

“Catch up with Brad?” Peter supplied, wondering why the words tasted foul on his tongue.

“Yeah… Later!”

Peter joined Shuri, who had been observing them unsubtly. “What?”

She shrugged exaggeratedly, not saying a word as she put her hand carry on the conveyor belt. 

“What?” he pressed.

“I dunno,” the girl feigned nonchalance, “That was just so awkward. I don’t even need to know what you two were saying to know that you’re crazy about each other.”

“What?” Peter laughed, even as he felt an odd but not uncomfortable twinge in his stomach, “No way, we’re just friends. Also, she kinda scares me.”

“Right,” Shuri dumped her sucker in the trash bin, no food allowed and all that. 

In two hours, they were on the plane and Shuri was still trying to convince Peter that he had a thing for MJ when he was just trying to trace Quentin Beck’s movements through Italy, but the trail went cold after Tuscany. 

“Look, all I’m saying is you two get along like a hammer and nails, one of you is always hitting on the other, but never at the same time, so you need -”

“I need to talk to MJ,” Peter had not been listening to her lecture at all. 

“Great!” she stood quickly, “Hey Brad, can you switch seats with Peter, please, I need to talk to you!”

Brad had just plugged in a dual adapter for himself and MJ, “What about?”

“Basketball,” Shuri was on the team too.

“Can it wait? I mean, it’s not like we’re in season -”

“Do you mean to tell me you don’t take our sacred sport seriously?”

“No, I just -”

“Then switch seats! This is  _ urgent _ !”

“Shuri,” Peter hissed, “I can just wait until -”

“Shut up, he’s coming over,” Shuri practically shoved him into the aisle, “Up, up, up!”

“Sorry, man, you know how she gets about… basketball,” Peter brushed shoulders with Brad and sat down next to MJ, who looked very cuddly in her airplane blanket, earbuds in her ears, which made him notice her stainless steel stud earrings - had she always worn them? Didn’t she once go on a whole rant about how jewelry was an ostentatious display of meaningless material wealth or something?

“Hey Peter,” she spoke up, snapping him out of his internal processing and patting the now vacant seat beside her, “You gonna sit down or…?”

“Oh, right,” the boy sat down and pulled the table out of the arm rest for his laptop, “So, I traced Beck’s known aliases to Tuscany, but from there the trail goes cold.”

“Great, we’ll start there,” she smiled at him.

“Great, I’ve already mapped the optimal route so we can check all the gas stations, starting with the ones nearest to hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts -”

“Sounds like you’ve got it well in hand,” she was still smiling at him.

“But then I thought about Airbnbs, so I went on this website archiver site to find the places that were advertising around the time frame when he got out of the taxi and then I thought we should check around the airports and I don’t know how we’re going to have time for all of this -”

“That’s what the money’s for,” she whispered conspiratorially, “So we can stay past our welcome and catch up with the group later.”

Peter nodded slowly, “‘We,’ meaning you, me, and,” there was the punch to the gut feeling again, “Brad.”

“Does Brad know about Tuscany?”

“Uh, not ye-”

“We have to entertain the possibility that Beck ditched his taxi early -”

“But he paid with his credit card and the system’s linked to the GPS, so we know for sure -”

“It’s a  _ small _ possibility, I know,” MJ continued, a significant don’t-argue-with-me look in her fierce brown eyes, “but that’s the detail I’m assigning Brad. You’re with me in Tuscany. You good with that?”

“Uh, yeah,” Peter didn’t know why Shuri’s words were ringing in his ears or why said ears were heating up, “Sure. Yeah.” 

“Great,” she reclined her seat, “Let’s watch a movie.”

"Oh, uh, okay?" he reclined his seat as well.

They landed at the airport in Florence ahead of schedule, so Mr. Harrington allowed them to explore within the block until check in. He only realized this was a bad idea when Betty attempted to lug her three suitcases to the roof of a gourmet restaurant for a photo op.

"So… Superman or Batman?" MJ asked Peter.

"Batman obviously."

"But Superman has laser eyes, strength and flight."

The boy shrugged it all off, "Batman has Alfred."

She laughed and his stomach flipped. It appeared that Shuri was right once more.

"I've got it!" Brad ran up to the pair, "I called the lady at this inn between here and Tuscany," he held up his phone to show them his map app, "She described a man matching Beck's description and when I texted her his picture, she said it was him. He's using a new alias and she doesn't know when he'll check out."

Peter dared not look at MJ as his heart dropped. May, Ned, Shuri, and his homeroom teacher, Mr. Stark had all said at one point or another that he had a face like a child - it always betrayed its emotions. Now they would all have to go together.

"We have to move fast," MJ's voice took on its business tone, "If he gets wind that someone's asking after him in conspicuous ways, we lose him."

"But we don't get on the road to Tuscany until Day 4 of our itinerary," said Peter hesitantly, unwilling to be the first to suggest breaking the rules.

MJ hailed a cab, opened the door and gestured to Peter, "After you."

They put their luggage in the back and told the driver where they wanted to go. He didn't think they could pay for the whole distance, looking like the rugged teenagers they were, so Peter did some quick mental math and paid him the exact amount.

They were halfway up the mountain when they had to stop to let some baby mountain goats cross the road with their herder for the night. The rest of their journey was normal otherwise. 

Under the cover of dark, the trio arrived at the medieval-themed inn.

"Keep the meter running, please?" Peter paid the cab driver an advance of fifty euros.

"I'm confused as to which one of you is trying to elope with whom," he said in accented but enunciated English, "Or are you in one of those modern types of relationships?" 

"I, uh,  _ what _ ?"

" _ Peter _ !" MJ hissed, "You  _ coming _ ?"

"Yeah!" Peter jogged over to them.

"This is his room," Brad led them out of the manager's office and to door number six, looking quite pleased with himself, "Told them I was his son."

"Good for you," MJ grabbed a mace hanging off the wall, "Did you call the police?"

"Yeah, but they're ages out. Plus time for the info to move up the chain to Interpol."

"... Are we in agreement that we can't lose him now?" she looked between the boys who nodded, "Good. Knock then get out of the way quickly."

"I'll do it," Peter rapped his knuckles against the door twice, sharply and a second later a bullet whizzed through the door.

The teenagers looked between each other. They were scared, but none of them were backing out. 

The door opened a crack, then it swung wider and MJ swung her mace wide. It met Beck's skull with a dull thud, not unlike the sound his body made when he hit the floor.

"Is he dead?" Brad backed away from MJ slightly.

"Of course not," she tossed the weapon easily from one hand to another, "It's plastic."

Beck groaned.

"Oh, no, you don't," Peter shrugged off his backpack and zip-tied the wanted man. 

"What are you doing?" the man boomed, "I'll have you arrested!"

"Mr. Beck, I believe this is the part where you say you would've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for us meddling kids."

MJ laughed and Peter's stomach flipped like an Olympic gymnast.

"The police are here," Brad was able to announce after about half an hour had passed.

They all looked up at the helicopter landing in the otherwise empty parking lot, save Mr. Beck and the manager's car. 

"Michelle Jones,  _ The Beagle _ . These are my associates, Peter Parker and Brad Davis," she handed the brunette Interpol agent a nice thick folder.

"Maria Hill," while the agent's face made known her confusion, her voice did not, "Please allow us to escort you all back to our offices in Florence. We have a few questions, naturally."

"And we'd be happy to answer them," MJ shook her hand like a true professional.

Once in the helicopter, Peter really wanted to look out the window the entire time, but he wanted to have one of those fluffy movie moments with MJ even more. So he pretended to fall asleep on her shoulder, ready to jump awake with profuse apologies if she didn't like it, but the girl only snuggled further into her seat and rested her head against his. MJ actually did fall asleep, while Peter remained awake to savor every second. He was still on cloud nine even when they were returned to poor Mr. Harrington's custody and confined to their hotel for the rest of the trip. Peter and MJ were perfectly content to order room service and watch crime thrillers all week. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think? :)  
> Tumblr: [@littlejeanniebean](https://littlejeanniebean.tumblr.com/)


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